GUNS ‘N ROSES frontman Axl Rose struck fear in the hearts of festival organisers – and Irish concertgoers – when he tweeted last night that the band had cancelled all of its forthcoming tour dates.

The band – who are known to be a tad on the unreliable side, having taken 17 years to release their Chinese Democracy album – left fans scrambling for ticket refunds after the band’s singer posted a brief message that appeared to indicate the band had split up.

He said:

All upcoming Guns N’ Roses dates are officially cancelled. Please contact your place of purchase for any refunds.

But the band’s European tour managers investigated the incident and it transpired that Rose’s Twitter account had been hacked, and that the band still intended to fulfil their obligations – including a date at Dublin’s O2 on September 1, as well as the Leeds and Reading festivals in two weeks.

The managers, Festival Republic, confirmed:

Festival Republic are informed by GN’R management that Guns N’ Roses have NOT canceled their performances at Reading & Leeds and that Axl Rose’s twitter account was hacked into and all claims of dates being cancelled are unfounded.

Twitter followers had suspected the message may not have been authentic, with the message posted via Twitter’s mobile website as opposed to the iPhone apps Rose more usually uses – with the account also having been dormant for several months. The tweet also used the English spelling of the word ‘cancelled’, with two Ls, belying the singer’s Indiana roots.

The offending tweet, however, remains posted to Rose’s profile.